Which gold threads to choose for goldwork embroidery? A complete comparison
Jaseron, smooth purl, rough purl, spangled purl, Japanese gold thread, plate... At first glance, all these names can be confusing. And yet, each thread has its own logic, a precise role, a particular way of interacting with light. Understanding the purpose of each thread is already understanding how goldwork embroidery is constructed and making informed choices rather than embroidering at random. This guide clarifies all the threads used in goldwork embroidery, what they are, how they are worked, and in what cases to use them.
Jaseron: the outline thread
Jaseron is often the first thread one learns to lay in goldwork embroidery, and for good reason. It structures the motif, tracing its lines and marking its contours from the very first stages of the work. Even before filling a surface, jaseron is laid. It provides the framework.
Concretely, jaseron is a metallic thread in the form of a small spring, usually copper covered with gold. Its tight spiral gives it both flexibility and good hold. It is not cut into segments like purl; it is laid in a continuous line, couched onto the fabric and fixed by regular couching stitches (or Boulogne stitches), spaced 2 to 3 mm apart.
Before laying it, it must be stretched slightly between the fingers by about 20% of its initial length. This gesture opens the spiral and makes the thread more flexible, easier to work with. Without this stretching, the jaseron remains too compact and the holding thread has difficulty fitting between the coils. Pulling too hard or in the center risks breaking or irreversibly deforming the spirals: it is a gentle, controlled movement, always held by the ends.
Jaseron exists in different thicknesses and colors (gold, silver, copper) which allows adapting the sparkle and visual weight to the motif. A fine jaseron will give delicate outlines; a thicker jaseron will structure more assertive shapes. It is the thread found in almost all goldwork kits, because it is fundamental to any traditional embroidery technique.
Smooth purl: elegant filling
Smooth purl is one of the most emblematic metallic threads in goldwork embroidery. It comes in the form of a small hollow, regular, and shiny spring — which is cut into segments before being threaded onto the needle like beads, then laid onto the fabric.
It is this way of working, thread by thread, segment by segment, that makes smooth purl so precise and so rewarding. Each piece is placed exactly where desired. The length is adjusted to the nearest millimeter, by removing the spirals one by one if the section is too long. For proper placement, the purl must lie flat along its entire length, in direct contact with the fabric, without forming a bridge or lifting.
Its finish is neat, regular, and very bright. It is ideal for clean fillings on shapes with sharp outlines, bird feathers, petals, geometric areas. On the Golden Bird kit, for example, smooth purl is laid perpendicular to the padding to create that characteristic structured plumage effect.
It requires attention to cutting and laying, every detail is visible, but that is also what makes it interesting: it forces care in the movement, and the result is immediately apparent.
Rough purl: volume and texture
Rough purl is the textured big sister of smooth purl. Its spiral is less regular, slightly twisted, which gives it a more lively, more irregular surface. As light catches the spiral's reliefs differently at each angle, it creates a very particular textured effect on the embroidery, more organic, less flashy than smooth purl.
It is worked in the same way: cut into segments, threaded like a bead, laid onto the fabric. But its texture has a practical advantage often appreciated by beginners: small imperfections in cutting or laying blend into the natural irregularity of the thread. It is more forgiving.
In goldwork embroidery, it is often used for filling areas in chipwork, a technique that consists of cutting the rough purl into very small sections of 1 to 3 mm, then laying them one by one, varying their orientation to create a shimmering and dense surface, almost like a golden mosaic. It is a meticulous technique, but the result is spectacular.
Rough purl easily adapts to straight lines as well as areas to be filled, and quickly adds relief and movement to a motif.
Spangled purl: the thread with character
Spangled purl distinguishes itself from the previous two by its very particular, almost crimped spiral, which forms a succession of small regular reliefs. It is no longer a smooth spiral or simply twisted; it is a sculpted surface that immediately gives a lot of character and visual richness to the thread.
It is worked in the same way as smooth purl, but its pronounced relief requires a little more regularity in cutting and laying to maintain good alignment. Once in place, it brings volume, rhythm, and presence. It is readily used to highlight certain details of a motif, accentuate an outline, or give more density to a specific area — where one wants the eye to linger.
This is the thread you pull out when you want the embroidery to speak loudly in a specific spot.
Japanese gold thread: luminous couching
Japanese gold thread, or couching thread, is of a different nature than the previous threads. It does not come in the form of a spring, but as a textile thread (cotton or silk core) wrapped with a thin metallic strip or a metallic synthetic thread. It is flexible, continuous, and not cut into segments.
It is laid flat on the surface of the fabric, in parallel rows, then secured with small perpendicular couching stitches, the Boulogne stitches, regular and discreet, which hold the thread without crushing it. In goldwork embroidery, this technique is called brick couching when the holding stitches are staggered from one row to the next, creating a very characteristic brick joint effect.
This thread brings light in a very different way from purl. Where purl creates relief and volume, Japanese gold thread produces smooth and uniform surfaces with a soft and warm sheen. It is the ultimate background thread, used to fill large areas in a regular and luminous way.
The Japanese thread included in the Golden Bird kit is made in the traditional workshops of Kyoto, renowned for their ancestral know-how. Selected for its regularity, strength, and flexibility, it guarantees a particularly luminous finish. It is an exceptional gold embroidery thread, very different from standard synthetic threads.
Plate: the flat and flexible thread
Plate is a flat metallic ribbon, usually gold or silver, used as a surface thread to create brilliant and flexible effects. It is unlike any other gold thread: where purl is a spring and Japanese thread is a wound textile thread, plate is simply a ribbon that is folded, couched, and fixed onto the fabric in a zigzag pattern.
Its laying technique is specific: one end is folded into a small hook to attach it to the first fixing point, then it is brought back alternately from one side to the other, folding it slightly at each pass. Each new fold partially covers the previous one to achieve a uniform finish, without any empty space. This technique requires precision and control; the tension exerted on the thread must be sufficient to firmly fix the plate, without ever crushing it.
Plate produces a very different brilliant effect from purl: flatter, more flexible, with reflections that change depending on the viewing angle. It is often used for areas that need to sparkle softly and regularly, or to create texture contrasts within the same motif.
How to choose your threads
In practice, a piece of goldwork embroidery never uses just one thread; it combines them. Jaseron structures, purl fills, gold thread creates luminous backgrounds, plate adds reflections, spangled purl highlights details. It is this superposition of materials and textures that gives goldwork embroidery its visual richness.
To start, there's no need to have everything at once. A well-designed kit brings together the essential threads in quantities suitable for the project; this is exactly what the Cannetille & Célestine goldwork embroidery kits do: each thread is selected for what it brings to the motif, without excess.
To discover purl and jaseron in an accessible first project, Le Temple du Jaseron is the ideal introductory kit.
To explore the full palette, jaseron, smooth purl, rough purl, Japanese gold thread, and plate, L'Oiseau d'Or is the kit that brings together the most different techniques and threads on a single motif. A comprehensive way to understand how each thread plays its role in a finished goldwork embroidery.
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